Resurrection
by Toffee
Summary: A Christmas story with a twist, as seen through the eyes of Saori.


**Resurrection**

That beeping sound again. Saori shook her head, muddled by the evening's waning light and too much eggnog. Another beep and she straightened up, blinking uncertainly. She could hear even breaths beside her, the deep and long whispers of a person sleeping. It felt wrong to be sleeping at such a time, very wrong. She closed her eyes again, but the beeping returned.

"I have to get this silly wristwatch fixed," she murmured.

"Yes, it _has_ had it, that watch." A light was shone in her face, blinding for an instant before it was moved away to reveal Shun's smiling face. Saori had not heard him come into the living room. It unsettled her that he had become so good at being quiet.

Earlier on in the day, June had braided a wreath of holly into his green locks and it still hung there, spiky leaves entwined with the gnarled knots of what was once a braid.

"Shun," Saori sighed, and felt a stirring next to her legs. Seiya growled something unintelligible and snuggled deeper into the pillows. "We must have dozed off…"

"Your 'dozing' has already lasted a few hours, Saori. Isn't it time for you to join the party?" Shun's smile was soft in the light of the candle he held, but a deeper darkness crawled behind his eyes as the small flame flickered.

"The lights haven't come back yet?" Saori asked lowly.

Seiya growled again and nudged her gently with his socked foot. "M'tryin' t'sleep…."

Shun rolled his eyes, clearly biting back a droll comment on Seiya's behalf. He glanced at Saori, handing her the candle. His face melted back into the shadows. "A blackout all over Tokyo on Christmas Eve… sad but somewhat romantic, don't you think?"

"Shuuuuuun…" Seiya complained, nozing into the pillows.

"Oh wake up Seiya! Dinner is set and you've been asleep for almost 4 hours! That hardly qualifies as a nap," Shun snapped humorously. The beeping sound made Seiya jump and Saori glanced down at her watch irritably. It figured that Seiya's birthday present to her would not be as resilient as the one who gave it to her.

"So we'll have a dark Christmas?" But even as she spoke, Saori could make out the light of candles all over the house. Shun's face, framed in shadow, appeared to be smiling. Was it really less than a year ago that he had been….?

"We shouldn't be having Christmas at all, if you want to get into it," Shun whispered, following her line of thoughts. "Greek gods greeting the birth of Christ… really!"

Seiya cracked one eye open. He always got uncomfortable when Shun did not openly deny what he was. _Who_ he was.

"Name a Greek festivity with presents," he challenged, and Shun shrugged expressively.

"Greek Orthodox maybe…" he commented and Seiya rolled his eyes.

"That doesn't count!"

"Enough with the theology, you two!" Saori laughed, tapping her watch to see what was wrong with it. "Let's go get dinner ready."

"Dinner _is_ ready Saori, you slept _that_ long," Shun pointed out. Saori blushed, feeling mildly embarrassed. What kind of hostess would they think she was…? Shion hadn't been truly enthused by her idea in the first place, but to organise a Christmas party and then fall asleep….?

"Oh my…"

Shun's affectionate pat soothed her somewhat. "Don't worry, setting up the tree and the food has kept everyone occupied enough. We figured you two wanted to talk things out."

Talk things out….?

Oh. Yes.

But they hadn't. Seiya's eyes were velvety deep and unfathomable as they stared up at her, like a great lazy cat. Shun shook his head and strode out of the room chuckling.

"We fell asleep," Saori mumbled.

"Yes," Seiya agreed. "But we can finish the discussion anytime."

She twined her fingers around one of his hands and squeezed, taken by the warmth of his fingers. Months ago, she has still been sitting by his bed, wondering if he'd ever wake. Now… now his hands were warm in her own, and she could hear laughter and mock-protests echoing in the darkened hallways of her mansion.

"We really should join them," she sighed, getting up. A little wax sloshed onto her fingers and she yelped. Seiya held her hand in an instant, pressing his pillow-warm lips to the mild burns.

"Crybaby."

"Oooh… so the sleeping beauties will grace us with their presence? Were you _really _sleeping now?" Kanon's voice was a silky drawl. Beside him, Saga pulled a face and swatted him on the back of the head. It did nothing to Kanon's lewd smile.

"Is that envy I hear?" Seiya cupped his hand around his ear and Saori felt a flush creep over her cheeks.

"Seiya!" She cried, betrayed.

The sound of laughter made her heart ache with joy. Mu was shaking his head, commenting something to Dohko and Shion that made the older men blink and grin in turn. She wondered what it was that he had told them. She looked around, smiling at everyone as she moved into the room. Aphrodite still seemed reluctant to meet her eyes, after all these months. She hoped one day he'd get over his shame.

Had it really been eleven months since their return? Shun caught her gaze amidst the candlelight, dark and mystifying. He knew what she was thinking, as she knew his thoughts in turn. _Niece_, they said, _niece… never look a gift-horse in the mouth, nor question the gift._ Her watch beeped again, and Saori grew more and more certain that Seiya had bought it at a discount fair, but had nicked the pretty box from a more expensive jewellery store. A gift-horse in the mouth indeed.

"Well… it's good to see everyone here," she began, but Ikki interrupted her.

"Of course, where else _would_ we be on Christmas? Even if we had plans… what do you say if your Goddess wants you to join in a party and exchange gifts? Sorry: no?"

"What about 'sorry: I'm getting laid'?" Deathmask offered, earning a dark look from Aioros and Aiolia both.

"_Did_ you have plans?" Saori pointedly glared at Ikki, and Ikki shrugged mysteriously.

"No, he didn't." Shun cut in, and Ikki threw him a dirty look which had them all laughing quietly.

"So… good to see everyone is here, then. The tree looks wonderful…"

And it did. A fortune spent on tinsel and ribbons for it. It was a mammoth of green and glitter, spiralling towards the white ceiling like a great laughing giant. The angel at the very top glistened in the flickering light. It took Saori a few moments to remember Hyoga having said he would make one out of ice, if she truly intended to throw a Christmas party.

"Won't that melt?" She asked, curiously.

Hyoga raised a brow, looking mildly offended. Behind him, Camus and Milo smiled. It was Camus that had surprised them all the most, smiling more openly now. "I had no idea you could do things like that with ice…"

"Ah, so you see, that's why I'm better than you, teacher. The pupil surpasses the master," Hyoga crossed his arms in mock egotism.

"And develops a most unhealthy ego," Milo supplied, making Camus' smile widen into an amused smirk.

Hyoga didn't even miss a beat. "That's what I surpassed _you_ in, oh high and mighty replacement teacher."

"Replacement teacher? Why you little…" The rest of his comment was drowned by the general laughter. Saori felt her heart contract painfully. It was amazing that being so happy could hurt so much. She could still see Hyoga, bent over Camus' and Milo's gravestones like a broken doll. Mourning, always mourning, carrying the weight of a guilt that would never leave him. Now Hyoga's eyes glimmered and he truly looked like the young eighteen-year old he was. Camus' fingers curled affectionately on his shoulder, a hidden gesture only Saori could see from that angle. Hyoga didn't even acknowledge it, but his smile was so _deep_.

"How that angel can pray with a tree up its ass is what I would like to know," Deathmask muttered, and Aldebaran sputtered into his eggnog, coughing.

"I'd be glad to show you , if you promise to be good," Milo wiggled his eyebrows. Shiryu's face was as red as Saori's felt.

"Please… shouldn't we keep this light… given that we have minors in here?" Shura entreated politely.

"Like sex-talk was such a big deal." Kiki's deadpan comment fell into complete silence. Saori couldn't decide what was better, Mu's stricken face, Shion's amused grin, or Shiryu's guilty expression. That was a story she would have to drink a few gallons of tea for.

She sighed shakily, wondering what had possessed her to invite them all to celebrate Christmas in the fist place. She breathed easier when Seiya's fingers slipped around hers slowly. "Dinner, then?"

By the light of the candles, everything looked blurry and soft. Their mixed conversations and laughter pulled at her. Saori looked around herself, with everyone gathered before her, caught up in exchanging gifts. She was suddenly terrified that she might never know a happiness such as this again. Seiya's body was warm against her own, his voice low and gentle and vibrant. She still had nightmares of his cold, sleeping lips, and now.. now…! Hyoga, laughing by Camus; Shiryu, nudging Kiki into gales of laughter; Ikki giving Shaka sunglasses as a present; and Shun….

_Niece… _it was a whisper against her thoughts.

Her watched beeped again and Saori sighed.

"That thing has been making a racket all night, what's wrong with it?" Ikki asked her, tossing a pillow in her direction.

"Seiya's a cheapskate, that's what's wrong," Hyoga remarked, giving Seiya a mock toast with his mug of punch.

"Am not!" Seiya muttered sullenly, but with no real anger. He turned to look at Saori. "Since when is it making that noise?"

Saori tried to think back on it. A long time… it made her uncomfortable and queasy to think about how long it was in fact. She really didn't want it to break down, it was a gift from Seiya after all.

"Maybe I should get you a new one…?" Seiya offered.

Saori blinked, stung. "No! I like it…I like this watch. I would much rather fix it than get another…"

Some things can't be fixed, niece… 

She looked up at Shun, clutching the watch in her hands. _Wha…?_

"I could get you a newer, better one." Seiya still insisted, and Saori shook her head angrily.

"No. No… this watch is… it's…." How could she explain it? It made her feel sick to think of replacing it, just like that. Even if it broke. Replacing it would be like….

Like replacing your saints, the next time you need them? 

Saori shivered and opened her mouth to protest, but Shun wasn't looking at her, he was laughing at something Mu had said. She wasn't even sure he had spoken at all. The watch beeped again and Saori shook her head, tightening her grasp on it.

"I'm sorry… I just… I thought you'd like a new one," Seiya whispered. She squeezed his hand desperately, gazing deeply into his chocolate-brown eyes.

"I like _this_ one, I don't want a new one." I don't want it to break.

_(Everything dies… I would know)_

Seiya smiled. A secret, conspiratorial smile. "We can have it fixed then…" It would be an excuse to go off alone the next day, Saori knew. Her heart swelled to impossible sizes. Something melted inside of her, and the candles were too bright: they made her eyes water.

"Yes," she agreed, leaning a cheek into his shoulder.

Their audience was quiet and comforting, enjoying their own private joy. Shaka's warm aura belied the stoic expression he wore, a contrast Saori had begun to think was natural in him. The sound of ripping presents drowned out the further protests of her watch, and laughter bounced off the walls. When Aldebaran accidentally knocked the tree and the glass ornaments crashed with glittering radiance, everyone still laughed.

"We might never be happier than now," Seiya whispered against her hair, and Saori leaned into his back. She rested her glass of eggnog on the coffee-table and sighed. She _was_ so sleepy, even after that long nap. But she didn't want to fall asleep and miss any of the party…

"Saori? You're dozing off again." Seiya laughed gently, his hand still holding her own.

"I'm sorry… I'm just… I don't know…" She wanted to cry suddenly, it bubbled against her throat like boiling water. "I keep thinking that I'm so happy… _so, so happy and…_"

"Shh.. don't think of the past. We are here now. We are at peace and I… I lo---" Seiya's fingers feathered into her hair as he cut himself off. He had been about to say what Saori had been waiting for ages to hear. His breaths were short and she sensed his fear and the veracity of his feelings. Perhaps it could wait a bit more to be said out loud.

"Yes. You are right, this has been such a lovely Christmas."

His fingers kneaded her neck and shoulders before going back to stroking her hair. The watch beeped and she laughingly slapped it, drunk on Seiya's rumbling chuckles against her back. His caresses were strong and certain, making her dizzy.

_Niece…_ Shun's ghosting touch. "Don't fall asleep in the middle of your party…"

"Saori?" Seiya asked, still stroking her hair in that awfully soft way.

"I'm just sleepy…"

"Saori…" Laughter. Her watch beeped and she sighed. "Saori…"

"I'll wake up in minute." The beeping grew louder, insistent. "In a minute…" she murmured, turning away from the sound.

"Saori," soft hands stroking her hair, trying to wake her up. "Saori."

The screeching beep was deafening, no longer intermittent but long and drawn out.

"…Saori…"

_Oh… Niece…_

She blinked against the blinding light.

"Saori…" Shun was staring down at her. Above his head, she could see a familiar white-tiled ceiling. Numbness crept over her as she registered the sound that filled the room.

"Miss Kido," another voice, one she didn't know. "This is the 6th time his heart has stopped today. Do you still want us to pursue heroic measures?"

An insane part of her mind considered telling the man that he knew _nothing_ about heroic measures. He couldn't even begin to imagine what that was.

"Saori," Shun's voice was strained. "Saori… it's time to let go."

"Miss Kido?"

She felt like screaming, but it wouldn't come out of her. The cry was stuck inside her chest.

"Miss Kido?" All she could do was shake her head, and Shun's arms were around her, pulling her against his bony chest. A cough, and then: "Time of death, twelve thirty-five am…"

She pulled herself out of Shun's arms to clutch at Seiya's cooling fingers. He looked asleep, and nothing more. Just asleep, as he had been on the couch in her dream. "Oh…I had a dream, and it was so real! … I dreamed that—"

She wanted to tell Shun about it, maybe even Hyoga, when he came back from the cemetery. She wanted to tell them how real it had felt, and how beautiful! How the light had cast the glow of gold on everything and everyone, but there were no words to fill the silence as the doctors turned the machines off.

**The End **

Toffee's notes: Well, the evil Xmas plotbunny hath come alive. snerk Will soooo have to update my page before Christmas. This one goes to Animom, for being a lovely beta and sitting through my angst-trips.


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